In the construction of commercial and residential buildings, labor cost is a significant factor and, accordingly, the speed with which the construction worker proceeds is important. While building materials and tools that increase the efficient use of time the construction worker are desirable, the structural integrity of the finished construction must not be compromised.
Interior wall construction with the use of vertical metal wall studs and horizontal channel shaped runners or track is common. The runners and studs are assembled into a frame structure that is secured to floors and ceilings. The frame structure is covered with dry wall construction panels on one or both sides to form a wall surface. Assembly of the frame structure can be tedious and time consuming. According to one method, narrow slots are formed at the upper and lower ends of the metal wall stud near the corners. The side walls of the channel shaped runners are fitted in the slots and metal screws are used to fix adjacent portions of the runner side walls and metal wall studs. The resultant wall assembly is satisfactorily structurally but, nonetheless, slow in construction. The upper and lower ends of the wall studs are fixably secured to the runners which can be problematic upon thermal expansion and contraction of the building walls.